So where does that leave us for classic Japanese cars so far in 2014? Looking pretty good:

New Models:

Datsun 620 Pickup

1990 Honda Civic EF

New Decos:

Toyota 2000GT

Mad Manga

Toyota AE86

Not a bad start, considering 2014 Batch A hasn't even gone into wide release yet. There is undoubtedly more coming. Super Treasure Hunts? RLC Cars? Retro Entertainment? We have no idea, but it will be fun to watch it all play out...

13 comments:

Agreed, there were lots of race cars to copy for a new Hakosuka! Also I would love to see the rx7 released in this scheme.... http://www.allcarcentral.com/Mazda/mazda_rx-7-gtu_1979_9ee_0062alm-10-07.jpg

The car you are mentioning is the 1979 Mazda RX-7 24 Hrs of Daytona Winner. This two-toned green and white beauty would be AWESOME dressed up with this exact scheme. Hey .. even with the gold lace wheels, but that's optional. I really hope HW's does this and if they did, it would FLY off the shelves! It would be far better than the maroon model seen above. Damn straight.

If this is anything like the previous releases it should still be on shelves by 2015, same with the Corolla. There isn't as much interest in these older Japanese cars as a vocal minority will have you believe.

I have, as the moderator of the Lamley Group, always hated comments like these, whether aimed at Japanese cars or not. Every areas different. What is a pegwarmer in one area will fly off the shelves in another. I have been to stores where nothing but muscle cars hang forever, and I have been to places where the muscle is gone and euro and other import cars hang. Don't assume your little slice of the world represents the whole world. There are a lot of people excited about this model, and a lot who couldn't give two hoots. And guess what? That's pretty cool.

As for the love/hate for the JDM cars, even though i'm not a big fan of Japanese and Euro cars, I much prefer to see something new and different than the same old muscle car, mustang, Camaro, etc. cars that most every diecast collector in the US likes.